US moves UN to ban JeM chief Masood Azhar, China concerned

Backing the Indian allegations and taking a strong step to fight global terrorism, the United States has on Tuesday moved the United Nations to ban terrorist organization Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) and its chief Masood Azhar on grounds of proven terrorism. Masood Azhar, the mastermind behind the Pathankot attacks was once again backed by the dragon nation.

China has for the third time opposed the proposal made by the United States, also backed by France and the UK to designate Masood Azhar as a global terrorist at the UN Sanctions committee of the UN Security council.

Sources said that the proposal put forward by the US was finalized after consultations between the Indian government and the Washington. The proposal said that JeM is a designated terror outfit and that its chief cannot walk out freely.

However, according to an official source, as reported by the Times of India, China opposed the move putting a hold on the proposal. The action from the dragon nation came just before ten days deadline for any proposal to be blocked or adopted or to be put on hold.

As per the UN procedure, the ‘hold’ can continue for a maximum of six months and it can be further extended by three months. Also, the proposal can be converted into a ‘block’ anytime during this period thereby, ending the life of the proposal.

India in its response to China’s reaction said that it was informed about the Chinese move and that the matter has been communicated to the dragon nation.

The cold war between India and China started when the Indian government wrote to the UN last February, to immediately declare Masood Azhar as a global terrorist following his proven hand in the Pathankot attack in January. The Indian efforts were spoiled by China twice, before it went on to totally block the proposal in December 2016.

Political analysts are of the opinion that the frequent backing of China to safeguard Pakistan in matters of global terrorism was to safeguard their special bond, which is a mix of political and economical deals.